


cherry on top

by fruti2flutie



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Ice Cream, M/M, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 03:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14662602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruti2flutie/pseuds/fruti2flutie
Summary: Jaehyun may be the tiniest, tiniest bit jealous of the ice cream man who stole his daughter’s heart.





	cherry on top

**Author's Note:**

> -me? actually writing a fic shorter than 5k? when have i  
> -HA my life is a joke  
> -title taken from ["cherry on top" by unit g's 10:45](https://youtu.be/xFkwGEWs0Eo)  
> -inspired by [@tbzpromptbot prompt](https://twitter.com/tbzpromptbot/status/947363428364034048) "jujae au where hyunjae is a single dad trying to cheer his crying baby up by giving her a lot of ice cream. just as hyunjae starts worrying about the price, the ice cream man, juyeon, gives everything for free (just because juyeon thought the baby’s dad was cute)"

Yuna doesn’t like the rain. She also doesn’t like the snow, the wind, or even the sun. She doesn’t want to be outdoors at all now, as it turns out, and Jaehyun discovers this the hard way as he’s pushing the Hello Kitty-themed stroller through the park on a warm summer’s day.

“Baby,” he coos, sitting on his heels in front of her as she bawls her eyes out, “please don’t cry. You’re making me sad, and you can’t have a treat if you’re being like this.” He pouts. Yuna proceeds to wail louder.

“You’re not doing a very good job at comforting her.”

Jaehyun looks up at the ice cream vendor, leaning on the counter with his forearms, looking unaffected by Yuna’s tantrum. His truck reminds Jaehyun of a cupcake: vertical stripes of blue on the lower half and swirls of pink on the upper half, dotted with sprinkles. _Penguin Ice_ , it says in icy lettering. The man wears a white polo shirt with a blue collar. There’s also a matching visor covering his dark, coffee-colored hair, which gives him the appearance of an out-of-place golfer. (Out of respect, Jaehyun does not say this sentiment out loud because, again, the ice cream man has been tolerating Yuna’s tantrum for the last five minutes.)

“She’s fussy,” Jaehyun says with a tired laugh, which honestly sounds like a dying wheeze.

The vendor nods (and doesn’t comment on the pitiful sound that had come from Jaehyun’s mouth, thankfully). “I can tell. I have a nephew who’s pretty spoiled and refuses to share his toys.”

Jaehyun knows that feeling, too. Yuna is a shy kid, and when he adopted her he’d hoped she would open up more. Fortunately, she has with Jaehyun, finally calling him _Dad_ after a year of getting close to one another, but she still struggles at the daycare, not interacting much with the other children her age. She keeps things to herself and, at four-years-old, it’s hard to get through to her.

Yuna’s outburst has levelled to sniffling and stray tears, but Jaehyun still can’t get her to calm down. He looks at the ice cream man, helpless. “I really don’t know what to do,” he mouths. “It feels like I’ve done _everything_.”

“I have an idea.”

The vendor disappears deeper into the truck. There’s a clamber, a minute passes, and then the man steps out of the vehicle, an ice cream cup in hand. It looks like a vanilla scoop, drizzled with chocolate and caramel, topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry. The vendor, who’s close to Jaehyun’s height, wears an apron that matches the truck, bunching it as he squats to Yuna’s level.

When Yuna tentatively takes the small cup of ice cream from him, Jaehyun can’t help but feel a twinge of envy as her expression changes immediately. The vendor gets to his feet and beams with pride as he watches Yuna take her first bite, smiling around her spoon.

“How’d you do that?” Jaehyun asks, astonished, as Yuna cheerfully licks the side of the cup, wiping away her tear tracks.

“Ice cream can solve all the world’s problems,” the vendor says, sending a wink to Jaehyun’s daughter, who giggles.

“I don’t know if that’s necessarily true,” Jaehyun says, “but thank you. Seriously.”

“Thank you,” Yuna echoes. Jaehyun pats her on the head.

“Anything for a cutie like you,” the vendor says. (Jaehyun is flattered, until he realizes that most likely was directed at his daughter. He hides his mortification with a cough.) “I’m Lee Juyeon. And you are?”

“Jaehyun,” comes the reply, with Jaehyun gently rocking the stroller, “and this is Yuna. She’s my daughter.”

“Nice to meet you both.”

Yuna scoots further into her seat, timidly waving her spoon at the man. “Hi.” Jaehyun can’t contain his laugh as he smooths out her hair, soothing her.

“Are you on a walk with your dad?” Juyeon asks. Yuna nods. “That’s cool. I hope you have fun. It’s a nice day out, isn’t it?”

“It... is,” Yuna answers. She nudges at Jaehyun with her leg. “Dad, answer, too.”

“A very fine day, yes.” Juyeon grins, and Jaehyun is momentarily starstruck. He snaps out of it when he feels Yuna’s sticky hand tugging on his finger. “Oh, Let me pay for the ice cream.”

Jaehyun fumbles for his wallet and takes out his credit card. He hands it to Juyeon, getting it back a few seconds later, and grabs a few napkins for Yuna’s melting ice cream.

“Thank you for stopping by,” Juyeon proclaims.

“Thanks for having us,” Jaehyun says, trying not to feel flustered when Juyeon throws him another smile.

On the walk back home, Yuna is suspiciously quiet. She’s long finished her ice cream, which sits empty in her lap. She’s not sleeping; Jaehyun can see her kicking her legs forward. He decides it’s best not to question it, especially since Yuna isn’t crying anymore and that’s all that matters.

“Dad,” Yuna calls, once they’re inside the apartment building.

“Yeah?”

Yuna buzzes her lips. “Nothing.”

Jaehyun laughs. “You’re goofy, little lady.” He steers them to the elevator. “Let’s get you washed up, okay?”

“Okay!”

——

“Back again so soon?”

Jaehyun laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Yuna is sniveling, rubbing at her puffy eyes with her tiny hands. It’s a bright and sunny day in the park, which means Yuna’s been crying for the last half hour because a ladybug landed on her knee.

“This was the only solution I could think of,” Jaehyun admits. Juyeon chuckles.

“One scoop of strawberry ice cream,” Yuna declares, quiet. She adds, even quieter, “Please.”

Juyeon smiles. “Of course.”

“And a chocolate cone, too.” The corners of Jaehyun’s lips threaten to rise as Juyeon directs the amused smile at him.

“You got it, sir.”

Juyeon serves them their order. Yuna’s expression brightens as her hands grasp the cup. Jaehyun’s cone, wrapped in a napkin, brings a smile to his own face, too.

“How long have you been selling ice cream?” he asks Juyeon, after the vendor returns his credit card back to him.

“The last few years. This is a summer gig. I’m normally a high school teacher and ever so often the basketball coach.” Juyeon rests his chin on his hand. “My friend Chanhee owns this chain. Have you heard of _Penguin Ice_?”

“The name’s on the truck,” Jaehyun points out.

“Oh, well.”

Jaehyun bites back a snort for the sake of Juyeon’s pride. “Your friend owns the, ironically, hottest frozen dessert eatery in all of Seoul?”

“You make him sound like a god,” Juyeon says, frowning. “He’s five centimeters shorter than me.”

“That’s not that much.”

“I mean...” Juyeon drums his fingers on the counter. “He’s earning a lot more money per year than me, so I like having the little victories.” He smiles. “For example, in college, I bumped into Yunho from TVXQ at a bookstore. That was fun.”

“Get out of town,” Jaehyun gawks. “Yunho? _The_ Yunho? _U-Know_ Yunho? The one, the legend?” Juyeon laughs, nodding.

“Dad, who’s that?” Yuna asks. She’s frowning, confused.

“A musician,” Juyeon tells her. “He can sing, dance, and act. Well, back in the day.” He chuckles to himself. “Wow, that makes me sound old.”

Jaehyun raises a challenging brow. “Try me.”

Juyeon is actually a four months younger than Jaehyun, which is shocking. He seems older, in Jaehyun’s mind, though Jaehyun is the one with a daughter and Juyeon is the one with an ice cream truck. Good thing Juyeon doesn’t take offense to that.

——

Jaehyun is an editor. The office is in the city. The guys there know about Yuna, so they let him stay at home to care for her when he can. Daycare is expensive, if he’s paying a regular fee, and Yuna doesn’t like it much there anyway. If the guys from work really want to give him a hard time, they let Yuna come to the office as a spectator. Younghoon tries to feed her candy, Changmin braids her hair, and Joonyoung teaches her the English alphabet.

That... actually doesn’t sound bad at all. Jaehyun’s coworkers are basically his family, so it’s easy for him to get embarrassed by their domestic antics. Sangyeon is his boss _and_ Yuna’s godfather. Isn’t that saying something? Jaehyun has no clue how to keep his personal life and work separate, but he likes it that way.

His work is rather simple. He edits the manuscripts of amatuer authors, fiction and nonfiction, consulting them about stylistic choices to better express their thoughts in their writing. After he’d adopted Yuna, he shifted most of his work into the living room of his apartment, where he would be able to watch his daughter as well as scratch out run-on sentences in red ink. Yuna doesn’t like to be bothered, but every so often she brings Jaehyun to the floor to help her roast plastic steaks for her pretend kitchen.

When he has the time, Jaehyun likes getting out for fresh air. Being cooped up indoors for long periods of time isn’t good for his and Yuna’s air circulation. He could, theoretically, open the window, but the risk of any number of bugs invading his abode is not one he’s willing to take. (Sorry, lungs.)

He and Yuna take walks every other day — short errand runs to the supermarket or long strolls in the park. Jaehyun pushes Yuna in her Hello Kitty-themed stroller, gifted from Joonyoung for her birthday. At first, it had been hard for Yuna to enjoy these excursions, already settled into the homebody life with no intention of seeing daylight. She’d whined, cried, wriggled under her seat belt to try and run home. (Extreme, yes, but mark Jaehyun impressed.) Thankfully, now Yuna is gradually getting used to the weather, with the help of the friendly neighborhood ice cream man.

Juyeon is nice. He recognizes Jaehyun and Yuna by name. He even knows their regular order; the father-daughter duo isn’t one to stray too far from what they’re used to. He doesn’t say much, but he’s still a peculiar guy to talk to; Jaehyun believes this with a certain fondness.

From what Jaehyun can gather, Juyeon has a straightforward and serious attitude unlike himself. Jaehyun is mischievous, teasing. Juyeon is good-natured, with a big heart and soul. As a teacher, he loves caring for the kids and being their role model. As a coach, he takes it a step further and pushes his players to rise above the expectations. He tells Jaehyun that he’s a whiz on the court, but the teens treat him like a helpless uncle who doesn’t know how to work an iPhone. The image is comedic and, frankly, Jaehyun doesn’t feel bad about laughing.

It’s apparent that Jaehyun likes Juyeon, in the romantic sense, but he can’t tell for certain if Juyeon feels the same. He could _ask_ , but it’s difficult when Yuna’s always with them, too. She has eyes like a baby, beady-eyed hawk. Jaehyun is sure that _she_ likes Juyeon, given the way she speaks freely to him about what she’s done in daycare. (He’s not jealous!) Juyeon listens to her well, even as she babbles about how she’d drawn six rainbows and unicorns on her crafts project. Anyone who has the attention span to listen to that has Jaehyun’s heart, but...

Is Juyeon acting this way to keep the profits high? Jaehyun has bought more ice cream in the last month than in the last decade of his life. It’s surely good business.

No more than a week later Jaehyun finds an answer to his question. It brings a smile to his face and a pinch of hope for his proposition.

——

For the first time alone, Jaehyun walks up to the ice cream truck and knocks on the counter. Juyeon looks up, smiles, and then frowns.

“Where’s Yuna?” he asks, puzzled. He peeks his head out, looking both ways.

“She’s at my sister’s place for the weekend. I have a big project coming up so I’ll have to be out of town for a few days,” Jaehyun answers. “Can I get my usual?”

Juyeon nods, although there’s a pinch in his brow that marks confusion. He brings Jaehyun his chocolate cone, plus a napkin, and clears his throat. “What... What about her mom? Yuna’s mom.”

“Yuna’s mom?” Jaehyun repeats, confused. Juyeon smiles awkwardly and nods.

 _Oh_ , Jaehyun thinks, licking the side of the ice cream. _This makes a lot of sense now._

“Well, I wouldn’t know about her,” he says. “Yuna was given up by her parents when she was only a few months old. I’ve actually been living the single dad life.”

Juyeon’s eyes widen comically. “Really? Wow. Oh, wow.” He lowers his head, and Jaehyun can see the upward pull of his lips. “That’s... a surprise.”

“I love kids,” Jaehyun says, “but not girls.”

Juyeon grins, his smile reaching his eyes. “That’s funny.” He says it with the same tone as if he was talking about the weather, which gets Jaehyun to chuckle.

“I’ve always wanted to adopt,” Jaehyun continues. “I decided that I didn’t necessarily need someone in my life to do so. I have a good job, supportive friends and family. She’s everything I need.”

“I’m happy for you,” Juyeon says. He smiles. “You’re almost a perfect pair. All you’re missing now is a pet and you’re golden.”

“I was thinking of a cat. They don’t need much supervision.”

Juyeon beams. “I love cats! I have one at home. She’s a calico.”

Jaehyun’s heart skips a beat. It makes him feel young again, which may be saying something. He wishes he’d met Juyeon sooner. It would’ve been good for him and for Yuna. After he finishes his ice cream, making small talk with the ice cream man for some time, Jaehyun leans against the wall of the truck and takes in a deep breath. It’s showtime.

“You know, I’ve been checking my transaction history over the last month,” he starts, casual, briefly glancing at Juyeon. “It seems I don’t have any payments made to a certain _Penguin Ice_ truck I’ve been visiting frequently.”

Juyeon freezes. “That’s strange,” he says slowly. “Must be a mistake.”

Jaehyun shakes his head. “ _Or_ ,” he begins, “a sneaky, handsome ice cream vendor has been treating me and my daughter for every visit. What would you say about that?”

Managing a grin, Juyeon asks slyly, “You think I’m handsome?”

“Let me take you out to dinner,” Jaehyun responds, refusing to let Juyeon get to him. “As much as I love my daughter, I’d like it to be just you and me.”

“I’d like that, too.”

——

Dinner plans fall flat. In Jaehyun’s defense, it’s all because of factors out of his control, so it’s not _his_ fault. He schedules the date with Juyeon at the end of summer, when Juyeon finishes his time at _Penguin Ice_ and prepares for the school year. Jaehyun chooses a Saturday, leaving Yuna in Changmin and Jacob’s care for the evening.

The restaurant Jaehyun had wanted to bring Juyeon to got shut down for threats of _E. coli_. Not only that — they only realize this when they arrive at the establishment, with its windows boarded up and an ominous sad face poster on the door. Jaehyun stares at it for a good minute before Juyeon goes, “Darn.”

The fact that Jaehyun is able to laugh is an uplifting sign for the rest of the night.

The backup plan is Juyeon’s friend’s kitchen. His name is Hyungseo, and he owns a restaurant downtown. The cool part about it is that he offers to cook for them, free of charge, at his apartment in Gangnam; it’s his day off and he’s always willing to save friends’ failing dates.

“I swear this doesn’t happen often,” Juyeon declares, red in the face, as he gets off the phone with the chef. “The failing part. And the dates part. I don’t go on lots of dates.”

“Yeah, sure, I believe that.”

“Good.” Juyeon frowns. “Wait, is that actually a good thing?”

Jaehyun cracks a smile. “Let’s see how tonight goes.”

When they get to Hyungseo’s apartment, Hyungseo isn’t the one to open the door. It’s Chanhee, the owner of the illustrious _Penguin Ice_ , with wide eyes and a surprised hand covering his mouth. He lets Juyeon and Jaehyun inside, hurriedly tidying up the mess by kicking aside empty boxes of ramen and dirty garments.

“Hyungseo didn’t even warn me of a _guest_ coming,” Chanhee mutters as he gathers three pairs of jeans from the coffee table. “I don’t even have BB cream on...”

“You never act like this when it’s just me,” Juyeon says, monotone. Chanhee glares at him.

Later, Hyungseo returns from the grocery store, ignoring the way Chanhee stares daggers at the back of his head, and gets cooking. Juyeon and Jaehyun stay on the couch, watching a foreign movie, while Hyungseo whips them something to eat in the kitchen. Chanhee is his helper, passing him utensils and ingredients and singing out-of-style songs to make Hyungseo laugh.

“They’ve been married since Hyungseo got out of university,” Juyeon informs Jaehyun. “Afterwards, they started up their own businesses: Chanhee has an ice cream parlor, Hyungseo has a restaurant. Both of them are wildly successful, too! Power couple, right?”

“Why can’t they just combine and make a super restaurant that serves amazing ice cream?” Jaehyun asks, rubbing his chin.

“That’s what _I’ve_ been saying.”

The unplanned dinner goes great. Carbonara pasta, steamed vegetables, and garlic bread. It’s suddenly a double date, with Hyungseo and Chanhee on the other side of the table, which isn’t what Jaehyun wanted but not so bad. They talk about what they do for a living, their interests, how they met. When Jaehyun dramatically retells the tale of how Juyeon had tried to sweep him and his daughter off his feet with free ice cream Hyungseo coos, “That is literally the cutest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

“I wasn’t trying to sweep you off your feet,” Juyeon murmurs to Jaehyun, embarrassed. “I was just... being nice.”

“Thank you for telling me that you were ‘just being nice’ to me as we are presently in the middle of our first date. Thanks for that.” Jaehyun shouldn’t get so much satisfaction from teasing Juyeon, but the flustered response and shy laugh is all too rewarding.

Jaehyun isn’t in love on the night of the first date, but two years later, when Juyeon’s moved into the apartment and makes Yuna’s lunchbox for school, he may very well be.


End file.
